Who feeds hedgehogs what ?
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Hi all, thanks for having me in Hedgehog street. I was wondering what other members feed their prickly friends ? I have been feeding our hedgehog for the last 3 years on Webbox chicken roll and this year have added dried mealworms which he loves.
Hi Tom
Welcome to the Forum. The best things to feed hogs are good quality hedgehog food, cat/dog food, cat/kitten biscuits. Chicken varieties thought to be more easily digestible. Not sure what Webbox chicken roll is. If it is pretty much just chicken, you would be better of feeding cat/dog food, because they probably have added vitamins, etc.
Definitely cut out the mealworms. They do love them, but it has been found that not only can they become addicted to them, but they are bad for them. They have too much phosphorous in relation to calcium and this can cause the calcium to leach out of the bones. Particularly dangerous in hoglets who can develop deformities. If the hogs have become used to the mealworms you may need to reduce them gradually.
The following is a link to a video about Metabolic Bone Disease caused by eating too many mealworms. The beginning is a bit distressing but it is worth watching on to hear the explanation from a vet.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kZ7Y3a4vgqU
Good luck
P.S. Please remember to sign the Petition https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/206274 and if you have already, try to get at least 5 others to sign as well – and pass the message on. Time is running out. Less than 6 weeks left and still a long way to go.
More information from:
https://www.britishhedgehogs.org.uk/a24-rat-stoat-hedgehog-trap/Hi Nic, thanks for the info on mealworms. Fortunately I have only just started feeding them this year so will cut them out. As for the Webbox chicken, it is a moist dog food.
That’s brilliant, Tom. Hopefully they won’t even notice the difference and dog food is fine.
Happy hog watching!
My local mob get Spike’s Dinner (Dry) which they thoroughly enjoy. If I want to treat them I’ll give them some of the semi-moist Spikes Dinner which they are huge fans of and will always eat in preference to the dry food.
I won’t give them cat food because I don’t see why I should feed someone else’s pet (who use my garden as a toilet). I do have one local cat who will eat Spike’s Dinner but most of them don’t go near it which suits me.
We have a cat, as do both our neighbours, but none of them touch the Webbox chicken roll for dogs !!
I use dry hedgehog food, some dried beetle mix and sometimes a few raisins. They eat the lot usually.
The only comment I would make about that, Pupbelly, is that raisins aren’t good for hedgehogs teeth, which I understand is another problem which hedgehog rehabilitators have found.
Amongst all the pitfalls of what to feed hogs or not, the important thing to remember is that it is meant to be supplementary. The best thing for the hogs is for us all to do the best we can to create good habitat for them so that they can eat natural food. And, of course, increase their habitat by linking gardens with hog holes.
Interesting to know, Tom, that your local cats don’t like the dog food. Perhaps that could help solve the cat problem!
If the weather is very wet, like now in my area, I put his food in the house and it is always gone in the morning. Sometimes he is still there, but I don’t disturb him.
I am feeding Ark hedgehog biscuits and Spike semi moist – but that seems to have lots of nuts? I also feed meaty cat food – tbh, ones my elderly cat has rejected! The biscuits seem to be favourite.
I have built a feeding station – well, my OH reluctantly spent an afternoon cannibalising a plastic crate – but I haven’t seen the hog go into it – although both Spike and cat good vanished last night and I think Henry left me a small gift in exchange!
I am however, often finding large orange slugs in the empty food bowls! Henry is never around for me to tell him that that isn’t part of the deal! I then take great delight in flushing them away! Too big to squash!
Hey ho!I feed mine Spikes semi moist and dry (mixed up) but their favourite is I Love Hedgehogs food which have recently changed their recipe in lieu of recent hedgehog feeding research re mealworms, sunflower hearts and peanuts.
Before hibernation my hubby was spoiling them with chopped chicken which they all loved; but now they seem to prefer the hedgehog food. I have fed them chopped up hard boiled eggs which they have eaten in the past and chopped apple. But these are treats and not something I give them often.
What they all love is a bowl of water – they drink a lot of water 🙂
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